Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - Xbox 360http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/default.aspxen-USTelligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)Revolt Against Fate, Remain Bound By Conventionhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2012/02/06/reckoning-review-revolt-against-fate-remain-bound-by-convention.aspxTue, 07 Feb 2012 02:01:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1682925Phil Kollar0<p><img border="0" style="max-width:610px;" src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/Reckoning_DungeonTrollBattle.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>As the brainchild of artist Todd McFarlane, writer R.A. Salvatore, and Elder Scrolls III and IV lead designer Ken Rolston, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has an impressive pedigree that sets high expectations. Reckoning is meant to be the launching point for a vast new fantasy universe, and though it doesn&rsquo;t serve that purpose as well as 38 Studios wants, it provides a lengthy and entertaining &ndash; if sometimes flawed &ndash; experience.</p>
<p>Reckoning takes place in a section of the world of Amalur known as The Faelands. Though it follows the Elder Scrolls formula of dumping tons of side quests and faction quests onto the player, it&rsquo;s not an open world in the way of Bethesda&rsquo;s RPGs. Instead, the game is structured like an MMO, funneling you from zone to zone by way of various quest lines. Environments lean heavily toward cheery, oversaturated forests at first, but eventually open up into a variety of canyons, swamps, and mountains.</p>
<p>Areas tend to be fairly self-contained because of this layout, which allows the story threads for each quest hub to grow and climax in an entertaining (if predictable) way. Each area is huge and full of secrets, and there&rsquo;s fairly strong motivation to return after you&rsquo;ve already solved the local population&rsquo;s problems.</p>
<p>In addition to hidden treasures and bonus dungeons unconnected to sidequests, each area features a number of lore stones &ndash; objects that provide a bit of backstory on Amalur. While the history lessons aren&rsquo;t necessarily enthralling, if you find every lorestone in an area you will get a powerful permanent boost to your stats. Certain quest lines provide similar permanent stat boosts, ensuring that thorough gamers will become increasingly godlike as the game progresses.</p>
<p>Reckoning&rsquo;s plot exists to mostly explain why your character &ndash; who is dead at the outset, then resurrected &ndash; can defy fate in a world where everyone else is imprisoned by it. It&rsquo;s a cool concept that provides some helpful context for why your character is powerful enough to fix things for virtually every citizen, but the developers fail to make it seem as though your actions are having much of a visible impact on the world. The Faelands are distressingly static, rarely changing to reflect the good or evil you have done. That may work in an MMO, but it feels out of place in a single-player adventure.</p>
<p>The hundreds of quests are full of minor twists and turns, but they never quite go anywhere interesting. Both the main storyline and most of the lengthy faction quests end without any significant surprises to the degree that even now, a mere week after finishing the game, I can only vaguely recall any of the characters or plotlines I encountered. Nothing about the world of Amalur feels original enough to get me excited for the potential future products in this universe. Big Huge Games and 38 Studios have unique takes on traditional elves, fairies, and gnomes, but they&rsquo;ve failed to create a compelling hook in the lore that differentiates it from everything else in the fantasy genre.</p>
<p>For all my issues with the storytelling, Reckoning more than makes up for it in battle and character growth. The real-time action feels similar to God of War&rsquo;s combo-chaining combat. Some action fans may bemoan the lack of depth with the one-button approach to melee, but the ability to switch to different weapons mid-combo and whip out spells and special abilities on the fly feels fantastic.</p>
<p>The rhythm of combat is broken up with a fun mechanic called fateshifting. Each time you kill an enemy, you fill up a portion of your fate meter, gaining more fate based on how skillfully you mix up your abilities and how long you can keep your combo count rising. When the fate meter is full, you can fateshift to enter a slow-motion massacre where your attack power is greatly increased. At the end of a fateshift, the game asks for some good old-fashioned button-mashing to determine the experience bonus you&rsquo;ll receive as your character does a brutal, stylish kill. Fateshifting made me feel powerful and greatly increased the speed at which I gained levels thanks to the experience bump.</p>
<p>Each time you level up, you choose whether to devote skill points to mage, warrior, or rogue abilities. These choices unlock lightly defined class roles in the form of stat boosts called destinies that can be swapped at any time, freeing you to make any character you want. In a rarity for RPGs, mixing and matching abilities from multiple trees has just as much potential for creating a devastatingly powerful character as focusing on one skill type. You unlock specific destinies by mixing two of the three trees or even spreading points evenly across all three. Reckoning even provides a quick, easy, and relatively cheap way to completely refund your talent points and start building your character all over again, encouraging fun experimentation.</p>
<p>I was also pleasantly surprised to discover how enjoyable stealth gameplay is in Reckoning. I generally expect stealth options in RPGs to be underdeveloped and frustrating, so I cringed a little as I joined the Travelers, this game&rsquo;s version of the Thieves Guild. Fortunately, Reckoning&rsquo;s stealth is just forgiving enough &ndash; particularly after you&rsquo;ve put a handful of skill points into it &ndash; that I had a blast. When in stealth mode, clear markers indicate how aware of you your enemies are, making it easy to learn and toy with the AI patterns. Awareness also drops quickly, taking care of some of the usual pacing problems with this kind of gameplay.</p>
<p>While Reckoning succeeds with its combat and stealth, it falls short in its Diablo-esque loot system. I picked up hundreds of thousands of pieces of armor throughout my time in Amalur, but actual upgrades became increasingly rare after the 30-hour mark. To add to the frustrating lack of desirable loot, the majority of upgrades I received in the final half of the game were the same armor models. When I did get a model switch, the new piece would often clash garishly with whatever else I was wearing.</p>
<p>Reckoning also struggles with its technical performance. Numerous out-of-sync sound cues, framerate hitches, and slow-loading textures plagued my playthrough. I even encountered a few battles where enemies were completely invisible for a few moments while their models loaded. The PS3&rsquo;s mandatory install makes these issues slightly less common, but if you&rsquo;re playing on Xbox 360, strongly consider installing the game to the hard drive to help alleviate the frequent, lengthy load times.</p>
<p>Despite its problems, Reckoning is a good game with a lot of stuff worth checking out. But even with all of the talent backing it, it&rsquo;s just on the edge of being something much greater than it is. For a game that&rsquo;s all about breaking out of the confines of fate, it&rsquo;s a shame that so much of the content feels stuck within such narrow conventions.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1682925" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360ActionReviewPrepare For Reckoning With Kingdoms Of Amalur Launch Trailerhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2012/02/01/reckoning-trailer.aspxWed, 01 Feb 2012 13:23:34 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1670219Phil Kollar123http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1670219http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2012/02/01/reckoning-trailer.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/Reckoning_BansheanBattle.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is now less than a week from release. To help prepare you for this huge RPG, EA has released the following launch trailer.</p>
<p>This video brags about the huge world in Reckoning, shows off some of the great combat, and even hints at where the story will go. Check it out below. For a deeper look at the game&#39;s combat take a look at <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/12/16/check-out-kingdoms-of-amalur-39-s-flexible-combat-in-new-trailer.aspx">this past trailer</a>, and stay tuned for my Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review next week.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1670219" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewActionCheck Out Kingdoms Of Amalur's Flexible Combat In New Trailerhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/12/16/check-out-kingdoms-of-amalur-39-s-flexible-combat-in-new-trailer.aspxFri, 16 Dec 2011 11:04:09 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1554903Jeff Cork62http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1554903http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/12/16/check-out-kingdoms-of-amalur-39-s-flexible-combat-in-new-trailer.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/amalur1216-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning lets players explore their inner wizard, archer, or warrior as they beat down monsters in a magical land. If you don&#39;t want to go all-in in one of those three disciplines, fear not; players can blend components from all three major roles, as you can see in this new trailer.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>Look for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360 on February 7. For more on the game, check out our recent <a target="_blank" title="video preview">video preview</a>, in which we play with the game&#39;s producer for nearly an hour.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1554903" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEABig Huge GamesActionkingdoms of amalur38 gamesGet Schooled In Kingdoms Of Amalur's Combat With New Videohttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/11/23/get-schooled-in-kingdoms-of-amalur-39-s-combat-with-new-video.aspxWed, 23 Nov 2011 11:05:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1478595Jeff Cork55http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1478595http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/11/23/get-schooled-in-kingdoms-of-amalur-39-s-combat-with-new-video.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/amalur1123-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>The upcoming action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has all the trappings you&#39;d expect from a role-playing game, but the action portion isn&#39;t just an afterthought. In this new trailer, you&#39;ll see just how potent your character will be out in the wild, as he juggles enemies in the air, peppers them with arrows, and much more.</p>
<p>In addition to showing off your character&#39;s combat skills, the trailer highlights some of the strategies that you&#39;ll have to employ if you hope to stand a chance in this magical land. Skeletons are naturally resistant to poison, and going toe-to-toe with an ogre may not be the best plan. See for yourself in the video below. The game comes out on February 7 on the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>Check out our in-depth <a title="video preview" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/10/03/reiner-and-phil-play-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx">video preview</a> of the game, with tour guide Ian Frazier, the lead designer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1478595" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360Preview38 StudiosBig Huge GamesElectronic Artspcplaystation 3Actionkingdoms of amalurAnother Look At Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoninghttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/11/09/another-look-at-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspxWed, 09 Nov 2011 16:11:42 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1428699Matthew Kato85http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1428699http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/11/09/another-look-at-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/reckoning11.9.11610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>The big games of 2011 are almost all out, but EA&#39;s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is waiting in the wings to usher in 2012. Take a look at how the game&#39;s shaping up.</p>
<p>The screens below highlight both the game&#39;s environments and its combat, two elements that the development team over at Big Huge Games hopes set the game apart. Amalur&#39;s combat is more action focused than your average RPG with its timed button presses, and the world&#39;s lore was created by author R.A. Salvatore.</p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning comes out February 7 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. For more on the game, check out this <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/24/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-cinematics-trailer.aspx">developer diary</a> talking about the making of the game&#39;s cinematics.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1428699" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge GamesElectronic Artspcplaystation 3ActionKingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Cinematics Trailerhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/24/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-cinematics-trailer.aspxMon, 24 Oct 2011 14:44:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1347298Ben Reeves56http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1347298http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/24/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-cinematics-trailer.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/reckoning/movie610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Big Huge Games cinematics director Marty Stoltz walks us through the process of designing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning&rsquo;s cutscenes.</p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is set to release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on February 7. Until then check out this behind-the-scenes video of the game&rsquo;s cinematics.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1347298" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge Gamespcaction rpgmediaps3ActioncinematicstrailerNew Screens Arrive From The Kingdoms Of Amalurhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/03/new-screens-arrive-from-the-kingdoms-of-amalur.aspxMon, 03 Oct 2011 18:26:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1281868Matt Miller56http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1281868http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/10/03/new-screens-arrive-from-the-kingdoms-of-amalur.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/38-studios/kingdomsofamalur/reckoning/staff610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Curious to see more of Big Huge Games&#39; Reckoning? New screenshots show off the colorful and vibrant gameplay of the upcoming action/RPG. <br /><br />Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is sneaking closer to its launch early next year, and Big Huge Games (these days a part of 38 Studios) is eager to keep the game on your mind even during the busy holiday season. To that end, the team sent along some brand new screens of the game in action. They&#39;re a fine accompaniment to the <a title="recent trailer" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/09/23/new-trailer-gives-you-a-guided-tour-of-kingdoms-of-amalur-the-reckoning.aspx">recent trailer</a>. Also, keep an eye out in the November issue of Game Informer magazine, where we&#39;ll have more details on the EA-published title.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1281868" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge GamesElectronic ArtsActionKingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Hits Stores In Februaryhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/08/16/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-hits-stores-in-february.aspxTue, 16 Aug 2011 14:33:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1149422Ben Reeves61http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1149422http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/08/16/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-hits-stores-in-february.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/38-studios/kingdomsofamalur/reckoning/king610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is set to release on February 7 here in the States, and in honor of the games new release date, EA released a new trailer.</p>
<p>The game looks pretty epic, so we&rsquo;ll looking forward to getting out hands on it, early next year. Check out the games newest trailer from Gamecom below.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1149422" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge Gamespcaction rpgmediaps3New Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Shots Impresshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/07/15/new-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-shots-impress.aspxFri, 15 Jul 2011 16:33:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:1066147Matthew Kato0http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=1066147http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/07/15/new-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-shots-impress.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/amalur7.15610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning tries to blend an intriguing mix of different genre features, whether that&#39;s from RPGs or action titles, as well as introduce its own customizable class tree system. Electronic Arts and developer Big Huge Games have recently sent along a new batch of photos to show off the title.</p>
<p>While rooted on traditional RPG ground, Kingdoms of Amalur is also attempting to give gamers something a little different courtesy of a fluid real-time combat system (complete with multi-button combos) and an open-ended class tree system that lets players create the character they want and change their abilities along the way.</p>
<p>For more on the game, check out <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/06/08/reasons-you-should-pay-attention-to-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx">Phil&#39;s preview from E3</a>, and be sure to check out the rest of the screens and previous videos in the gallery below.</p>
<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/sprite_03.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/rathir_entrance06.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/bolgan_02.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamaluroverflow/melsenshir__16_.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1066147" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge GamesElectronic ArtsReasons You Should Pay Attention to Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoninghttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/06/08/reasons-you-should-pay-attention-to-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspxWed, 08 Jun 2011 22:45:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:983891Phil Kollar88http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=983891http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/06/08/reasons-you-should-pay-attention-to-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/Reckoning_Entering%20Didenhill.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Back when I first went to see Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for the magazine a few months ago, I was more than a little concerned about the generic name. Did I really want to play another open-world fantasy game? After seeing the game, the answer was a definitive yes, and my demo of it at E3 makes me even more certain. If you&rsquo;re not yet sold on Reckoning, let me convince you with a few notes from my E3 demo.</p>
<p><b>An absurd amount of content:</b> RPGs are arguably the lengthiest of any genre of games, but in this generation of single-player games averaging six-to-eight hours of playtime, even role-playing titles have become shorter affairs. Not so with Reckoning. Big Huge Games is promising five distinct geographical regions that are stuffed full of NPC-packed towns, hundreds of sidequests, and (no joke) 120 dungeons. Best of all, those dungeons aren&rsquo;t cut-and-paste like in some RPGs &ndash; Big Huge Games created some easy-to-use tools that allow them to quickly put together deep, interesting, hand-crafted dungeons. </p>
<p><b>Factions:</b> One of my favorite systems from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was factions. Working through the various quests and storylines of the thieves, warrior, and mages guilds kept my attention even more than the main story. Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston is heading up the Reckoning team, and he&rsquo;s carried over the idea of these factions. In the demo, I watched a run-through of a quest for the Warsworn faction. This group of warriors for hire originated as a religious order that existed to fight a horrific race known as the Niskara. This once-extinguished enemy has returned to the world of Amalur, and throughout the Warsworn quest, they will have to reconnect with their roots. </p>
<p><b>Open-ended class system:</b> Rather than the RPG norm of choosing a class at the beginning of the game and being stuck with it till the end, Reckoning employs a unique class system known as &ldquo;destinies.&rdquo; As you level up and make ability and stat choices, you unlock non-traditional classes such as Wayfarer, Shadowcaster, and Slayer. You&rsquo;ll be able to upgrade and change destinies as you progress, making for satisfyingly open-ended character progression.</p>
<p><b>RPG combat that&rsquo;s fun, fluid, and complex&hellip;really!:</b> Yes, Reckoning is yet another RPG that&rsquo;s embracing faster, more action-focused gameplay. Unlike games such as Dragon Age II, though, the combat in Reckoning looks and feels more like a straight action title or even a fighting game. I saw the player character &ndash; a hybrid warrior/rogue &ndash; use a devastating multi-stab attack, a lightning quick slash that dramatically paused time as he flew through an enemy several times, and a magic-infused smash that sent rocks flying up from the ground to crush his opponents. It&rsquo;s visually impressive and looks utterly engaging. I can&rsquo;t wait to get my hands on it for an extended period of time.</p>
<p>The team also unveiled a special combat mode known as &ldquo;fate shift.&rdquo; By defeating enemies, the character builds up a special power related to his or her ability to change the fate of the world. Once enough has been collected, the character enters fate shift mode, at which point he or she can perform destructive finishing moves that can wipe out whole groups of opponents in stylish fashion. </p>
<p><b>Fast yet deep dialogue:</b> Some RPG nuts love lore, and some are just in it for the loot and the level grind. Reckoning should be able to appeal to both crowds. For those who want to know every drop of backstory, NPCs will have tons of recorded dialogue to work through. For those looking through the fastest way through conversations so they can get back to fighting, quest-critical dialogue choices will be highlighted in blue. It&rsquo;s a tiny UI feature, but the blue text will greatly add to quality of life for gamers who are more excited about getting the next armor upgrade than learning Amalur&rsquo;s history.</p>
<p><b>Non-combat activities:</b> Fighting is fun, but sometimes it&rsquo;s nice to mix things up a little. Reckoning will contain plenty of non-combat options, including three kinds of crafting (alchemy, blacksmithing, and sagecraft, which allows you to create gems to socket into items), a persuasion ability to unlock more dialogue options, stealth that allows you to pickpocket and do sneak attacks, and a dispel ability that lets you play a mini-game to unlock warded treasure chests without being injured. </p>
<p>These abilities can be leveled up for even more bonuses. For example, in its most basic form, the detect ability will simply allow you to uncover hidden passages and find traps. As you increase in level you&rsquo;ll disarm the traps and eventually even salvage them for use in your own crafting. </p>
<p>E3 2011 is the third time I&rsquo;ve seen Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in action, and I&rsquo;m just as impressed as I was from the start. Do yourself a favor and don&rsquo;t let this game slip under your radar. It&rsquo;s got a good chance to be awesome when it comes out in 2012.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=983891" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360Previewe32011ActionSee Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning In Actionhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/05/12/see-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-in-action.aspxThu, 12 May 2011 15:47:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:918312Jeff Cork43http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=918312http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/05/12/see-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-in-action.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/amalur0512-610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>If you haven&#39;t been keeping up with Big Huge Games and 38 Studios&#39; upcoming action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, don&#39;t worry. This video walkthrough will get you up to speed on the game in about 4 minutes.</p>
<p>Ian Frazier, the game&#39;s lead designer, walks viewers through the game from the main character&#39;s humble beginnings as a reanimated corpse to a triumphant hero. Along the way, you&#39;ll get a glimpse at melee combat, magic, crafting, and more. For more information on the game, check out our <a target="_blank" title="in-depth preview" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/ps3/archive/2011/03/07/quick-combat-and-a-cool-world-elevate-reckoning.aspx?PostPageIndex=1">in-depth preview</a>.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=918312" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge Gamespcrpgplaystation 3fantasyMight Makes Righthttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/04/14/might-makes-right.aspxThu, 14 Apr 2011 09:30:57 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:852572Matthew Kato1http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=852572http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/04/14/might-makes-right.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/amalur4.14360610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is perhaps more known for the names
attached to it: ex-MLB pitcher Curt Shilling, Elder Scrolls vet Ken
Rolston, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and author R.A. Salvatore, but
the game&#39;s fluid (non-class) class system provides just as many
identities to the player.</p>
<p>The latest trailer for the game shows off some of the versatility of
the skill tree system, which is comprised of three branches &ndash; might,
sorcery, and finesse. You can assign points to any of these areas as you
see fit, and you&#39;ll unlock bonuses known as Destinies depending on how
far you progress along each path as well as for mixing and matching
them.</p>
<p>As you can see in this teaser, the results can be powerful. This
movie also shows off the three-button combo combat system, which is just
as visceral as any action game.</p>
<p>For more on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, check out our magazine feature in issue #216 (Saints Row 3) or <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/ps3/archive/2011/03/07/quick-combat-and-a-cool-world-elevate-reckoning.aspx">read our previous online preview</a>.</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=852572" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360PreviewEA38 StudiosBig Huge GamesElectronic ArtsQuick Combat And A Cool World Elevate Reckoninghttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/03/07/quick-combat-and-a-cool-world-elevate-reckoning.aspxMon, 07 Mar 2011 17:05:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:791324Phil Kollar18http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=791324http://www.gameinformer.com/games/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/b/xbox360/archive/2011/03/07/quick-combat-and-a-cool-world-elevate-reckoning.aspx#comments<div class="paginated-post" rel="2"><div class="paginated-post-page" rel="1"><p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/kingdomsofamalur/Reckoning_DungeonTrollBattle.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>When Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was announced by EA <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/20/ea-s-project-mercury-becomes-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx">last summer</a>, the biggest problem it faced was its title. Many gamers &ndash; members of the Game Informer staff included &ndash; were skeptical of yet another open-world fantasy game with a generic name. I went in for my first look at Reckoning sharing these concerns, but when the demo started, my worries faded away.</p>
<p>The most important thing to know about Reckoning is that though it&rsquo;s an open-world RPG made by some of the folks who worked on the Elder Scrolls series, the game focuses heavily on combat. Big Huge Games&rsquo; goal is to create battles as fast and satisfying as the average action game without giving up the depth expected of an RPG. </p>
<p>Reckoning&rsquo;s main character &ndash; a male or female selected from four different races &ndash; performs fast-paced, third-person combat similar to God of War and Devil May Cry. Stringing together combos in Reckoning depends on timing and stance; if you pause just long enough between attacks, you&rsquo;ll perform a launch and move into air attacks. If you attack out of a block, you may rush forward or do a wide swipe, depending on what weapon you have equipped. </p>
<p>Speaking of equipped weapons, no matter what character you&rsquo;re playing, you can have two different weapon types equipped at the same time. Each is mapped to its own button on the controller. For example, a warrior might have a powerful sword and a hammer. The warrior can open combat against an enemy with some quick slashes from his or her blade and then finish the opponent off with a powerful hammer blow. Being able to switch to a second weapon on the fly multiplies your options even if the moment-to-moment button tapping is relatively simple. </p>
<p>One of the other face buttons on the controller is devoted to magic and special abilities. Thankfully, all of the spells I saw have interesting spins that take the speed of combat into account. The mark of flame spell reminds me of my mage&rsquo;s living bomb spell in World of Warcraft; you can tag multiple enemies with a firebomb that damages them over time. Whenever you decide the time is right, you can detonate the marks, unleashing a cascade of area-of-effect explosions. </p>
<p>A harpoon spell allows you to grab enemies and drag them over hidden environmental traps. High-level magic users can call upon meteor, a top-tier spell that rains flaming rocks, devastating a whole room of enemies. Magic-focused characters also have a range of abilities and weapons that help create distance between them and their opponents, freeing up time to cast these powerful spells.</p>
<p>Reckoning does not stand apart from the crowd in combat alone. The wider universe of Amalur is being shaped by a talented brain trust at 38 Studios: founder and former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling, fantasy writer R.A. Salvatore, and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. Although this group is not directly involved in the day-to-day development of Reckoning &ndash; 38 Studios is currently developing an unnamed MMO set in the Amalur universe &ndash; their impact is evident. Amalur is not as generic a fantasy setting as it seemed upon first impression.</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript">PaginateGrid();</script><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=791324" width="1" height="1">Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningRole-PlayingXbox 360Preview